The annual rhythm of cambial activity is compared in Proustia cuneifolia and Acacia caven, two typical shrubs of the “matorral” in the semiarid region of central Chile. Proustia, a drought deciduous shrub, shows a typical desert cambial rhythm, highly sensitive to rainfall. The growth activity of this species is limited to the periods of adequate moisture. Acacia is an evergreen whose cambial activity is observed almost throughout the year; it is not synchronous with rainfall. Adaptation in this species seems to consist in developing long roots able to tap underground water. These results indicate that both shrubs, although growing together, have different adaptive strategies to the same xerophytic conditions.

The development of lignotubers was analyzed in seedlings of representative shrub species of the matorral in central Chile. The lignotuber is evident 3 months after germination in Cryptocarya alba and 4–5 months after germination in Colliguaya odorifera, Satureja gilliesii, and Lithraea caustica. Top removal in adult specimens soon produced formation of shoots as a result of the activation of the root-crown buds. The leaf area growth rates of shoots arising from lignotubers are significantly higher than those of seedlings and normally growing shrubs. The adaptive significance of lignotubers in matorral shrubs is discussed.

Propolis from Central Chile was investigated for its plant origin by microscopical analysis of pollen grains and leaf fragments found in the sample. The pollen grains that appear with significant higher frequency in the sample corresponded to four native and two introduced species, whereas leaf fragments corresponded to four native species. Seventeen phenolic com pounds that belong to the phenylpropane, benzaldehyde, dihydrobenzofuran, or benzopyran classes, were isolated from an organic extract that was found to have a moderate growth inhibitory activity against M ycobacterium avium , M. tuberculosis, and two strains of S taphylo coccus aureus. The components responsible for activity were determined.

The sclerophyllous evergreen shrub vegetation of southern California and central Chile is characterized by several examples of morphologically similar species. For each one out of a group of four Californian shrub species, four morphologically analogous sclerophyllous evergreens from Chile were chosen. In monthly intervals two‐year branchlets from these eight species were collected and their cambium activity was evaluated by means of a histological analysis. Similar shrub species from Chile and California show a surprisingly strong coincidence in their seasonal fluctuations of cambium activity regardless of their systematic position. This observation is interpreted to mean that convergence has taken place.